Policy Brief 2: How Can We Fund the Fight Against Antiquities Looting and Trafficking? A "Pollution" Tax on the Antiquities Trade

Policy Brief 1: Ending Impunity for Antiquities Traffickers through the Creation of a Cultural Heritage Crimes Prosecution Team

The United Nations warns that cultural racketeering, the looting and trafficking of art and antiquities, is a multi-million dollar illegal industry that funds crime, armed conflict, and violent extremism around the world.However, when compared to similar transnational crimes, from arms running, to drug smuggling, to the illicit wildlife trade, there is much we still do not know. The demand for strong scholarship in this field is greater than ever.

The Antiquities Coalition Think Tank is filling this gap by bringing high-quality, innovative, and results-oriented research to the world’s decision makers, especially those in the government and private sectors.We join forces with international experts to better understand the challenges facing our global heritage, while developing better solutions to protect it. We invite you to learn more below.

Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, eBay, Amazon, and WhatsApp have made it easier for looters and traffickers to directly contact potential buyers—cutting out the middlemen.

About

The Antiquities Coalition unites a diverse group of experts in the global fight against cultural racketeering, the illicit trade in art and antiquities. This plunder for profit funds crime, armed conflict, and violent extremism around the world, erasing our past and threatening our future. Through innovative and practical solutions, we fight cultural racketeering head-on, empowering communities and countries in crisis.

One way we do this is through our Think-and-Do-Tank, launched in 2016. We partner with leaders in archaeology, business, law, security, and technology to conduct high quality research and put

its lessons into action. Initially, the think tank will focus on policy briefs, concise and targeted documents that tackle critical and urgent issues. Importantly, these documents go beyond just describing the problem, and provide solution-oriented recommendations for addressing it. Subsequent think tank series will include case studies, examining preservation successes (or failures) and the lessons learned, as well as best practices papers.

Together, these outputs help governments, law enforcement agencies, the private sector, and other decision makers better understand the challenges facing our heritage, while developing better solutions to protect it.